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Free Guide to Stress Management and Relaxation

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What is Stress?

Stress is physical, emotional, or mental pressure affecting a person. Stress is a part of almost everyone's life and it may be work related or family related or a situation related. Stress is a nonspecific response to internal or external stimuli. Stress is not contained in what happens to you, but is the way you respond to what happens to you. You can choose the way to response, and the choice is yours.

The way in which we interpret events happening around us may entirely determine whether we respond to them in a stressed manner or not. It is entirely in our hands to choose a better way of response. It is said that when you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it then change the way you think about it. It is easier to change the attitude than trying to change the object, person, situation, or behavior of the other.

One cannot avoid stress, because many stress inducing factors are unavoidable, but stress can be contained and can be managed. Stress makes you tired, exhausted, fatigued, irritable, frustrated and unhappy. The ability and effectiveness of a person gets affected due to stress. Stress cannot be avoided in these modern days but can be managed.

Causes of Stress:

When the attention of the individual is always projected outwards in the field of action, the unlimited potential of life gets limited. When the potential of Awareness gets limited then the Creativity gets cramped, restricted and the individual becomes fatigued and stressed.

Loss of wealth, illness or injury to the body, death of near and dear ones, separation from friends and relatives, entering into a new job, retirement from the job, change of place, things, people, situations, financial status, living conditions, etc can cause stress.

Many of the causes of stress cannot be avoided and hence should be managed.

Effects of Stress:

Physical disorders and psychosomatic diseases, split personality, schizophrenia, escapism with alcoholism and drug addition, withdrawal from duty and responsibility, fantasy (day dreaming), depression, tension (muscular, emotional and mental), emotional burnout, frustration, disturbance in relationships, loss of earnings, decreased productivity, accidents etc. Inability to conceive which we are dealing with in this blog is also considered to one of the effects of stress.

This is most simple but very effective breathing technique taught along with yoga asanas. This relaxation method is done in seven steps which we are going to explain step by step.

Step 1: Sit in a comfortable position, keep your head and spine in a straight line, place the hands on the knees and close your eyes. You can do it also lying down straight.

Step 2: Become aware of your body, posture, feel your body from the tips of your toes to the top of your head. Feel the steadiness and the stillness of the body.

Step 3: Shift your awareness from the body to the breath. Simply become aware of the natural breathing process. Allow the breath to flow freely through both the nostrils. Just watch the breath, no other effort is required.

Step 4: Feel the touch of the breath at the entrance of the nose. Slowly follow the breath, take your awareness along the breath into the nostrils, into the windpipe, feel it near the throat, into the lungs. And then follow it back again up to the tip of the nose, feel the touch of the breath going out of the nose.

Step 5: If you awareness gets shifted to any thought or feeling, or any other thing, inside or outside the body simply observe it without any reaction, without any interpretation and slowly bring your awareness back to the breathing process.

Step 6: This step can be practiced if only you want to.

As you practice this technique more you will start recognizing that your consciousness and breath become one. Slowly you will feel the presence of a gap. You follow the breath and the breathing becomes deeper and deeper and your awareness, consciousness becomes deep and intense and then suddenly you will recognize that the breath before it returning back halts for a moment. Become aware of that gap. Similarly you will also notice a gap outside. You will observe that when the breath goes out of your nostrils there is a gap. Become aware of these two gaps. You will experience total relaxation of your body, prana and mind.

Step 7: After you practice the awareness of your breathing for a suitable period of time, then slowly shift the awareness from the breath on to the body, become aware of your body, feel the relaxation that pervades the entire body, and slowly open your eyes.

Happy relaxation and better chances of getting pregnant.

Wait a minute that's not all… we have two more methods of relaxation for you.

II Sulabha Dharana:

When you think of an object clearly in your mind, it is called dharana. It is also called imagination with a clear concept.

Step 1: Select any object like a lamp with light in it, your favorite deity, nice flower, beautiful scenery or just any word your favorite one.

Step 2: Sit quietly in a comfortable position. Follow the instructions mentioned in the "Sahaja Pranayama."

Step 3: Start feeling your body from the tips of your toes to the top of your head. Slightly move each part of your body with awareness and relax it.

Step 4: Breathe slowly and naturally. Practice sahaja pranayama for a few minutes.

Step 5: As you keep breathing, focus your mind's attention on to the selected object or any selected word.

i)Try to see the selected word clearly in your mind's eye (In order to make this easy you can write this on a paper, look at it for a few seconds and then close your eyes and see it in the mind's eye, this has to be done before you begin the Sulabha Dharana method so that it becomes easy to see the word when you reach the stage 5 of this technique). Visualize the word clearly.

ii) Understand the meaning of the word and try to repeat the word mentally. Do not move your lips or make any sound.

Step 6: Whatever happens to you, do not react, and simply observe the happening. At this moment anything and everything happening to you is right. Just accept it and observe it.

Step 7: Continue this method of imagination for a suitable period of time between 10 to 15 minutes and then slowly become aware of your breath, your body and then slowly open your eyes.

Now for the third method of relaxation.

III Sukha Dhyanam:

Step 1: Lie down straight with your back to the floor (Savasana). Use either a carpet or bed (don't sleep J).

Step 3: Take a resolution in your mind that you will do this technique with total attention and awareness, easily and smoothly. You can repeat this resolution three times. The mind then gets ready for the practice.

Step 6: Get back to your Sahaja pranayama. Keep practicing it and now become aware of each part of the body from the tips of the toes to the top of your head. Recognize and identify the accumulation of any kind of stress, strain, tension in these parts and then take a resolution in the mind that the stress, strain and tension will go away from that part of the body and relaxation will settle in their place in that part of the body.

This is called thought message. Do this to every part of your body and you can clearly experience the total relaxation of your body. Take some pauses when you shift you thought message from one part to another part of your body. Maintain stillness of your mind and body during these pauses.

Step 7: Get back to Sahaja Pranayama. While doing this in order to deepen the awareness you can follow the following points.

i) Become aware of the rising and falling of the navel. Just become aware of the natural rising and falling of the navel.

ii) Then become aware of the rising and falling of the chest.

iii) Become aware of the flow of breath at your throat.

iv) Become aware of the breath at the nostrils.

You can take pauses in between and remain still.

Step 8: Become aware of your Heart, Chest. Keep your awareness and attention focused on the chest for a few minutes. Simply be aware of your chest.

Step 9: Become aware of your body. Slowly, move your head to right and left, your feet forward and backward, open and close your fingers. Slowly turn to your right. Take the support of your right hand, try to get up and sit quietly for a minute, then get up and do your normal work.